


Strange Times at Backupsmore University

by congressmanmabel



Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty
Genre: College, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Light Angst, Nerdiness, One Shot, Science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 18:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4403144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/congressmanmabel/pseuds/congressmanmabel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stanford Pines isn't too happy about attending Backupsmore University. But after he forms an unusual friendship with two unlikely students, he starts to believe that it might not be all that bad.....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange Times at Backupsmore University

**Author's Note:**

> I really love how Stanford and Fiddleford became BFFs during college, and I couldn't help myself by indulging into the idea of how they met, them dealing with stressful college problems such as finals and all of the crazy shenanigans these two nerds must have done at school. 
> 
> I also had the crazy idea of Rick Sanchez attending Backupsmore and being Fiddleford's roommate!
> 
> Enjoy!

After the opening ceremony was over, Stanford Pines trudged out of the auditorium feeling very distraught and miserable. The young college was not particularly pleased with the school he was stuck with. In the weeks after getting rejected from a West Coast Tech, he and his parents looked at all of the safety schools he got into and chose the institution that provided him the most money. And that, unfortunately, was BU. Backsupmore University to be precise. Stanford tried to be optimistic about going to college, but after touring the campus's shoddy facilities with out-dated equipment, he began to feel the exact opposite. 

"This isn't fair". Stanford thought bitterly. "If only my idiot brother didn't mess with my project, then I would have gone to West Coast Tech...". Despite his petty feelings over the incident, he kept his thoughts about Stanley bottled up ever since his brother was kicked out of the house. A part of him truly missed his twin brother and wanted to reunite with him. Unfortunately, the six-fingered college freshman had no knowledge of Stanley's current whereabouts as well as any means of communicating to him. For now, Ford needed to focus on settling into his new environment. 

He finally arrived at his dorm hall, aptly titled Second pick, and made his way up the stairs towards the guys floor. Once Stanford entered through the door, he was met with a loud grunt coming from a student who was having difficulty carrying a cardboard box full of metal, blueprints and tools. Stanford couldn't see the boy's face as the box of tools shielded his peripheral vision, but the Pines boy was compelled to assist the person.

"Hey, do you need some help with that?" Stanford asked.

"Sure" the voice replied. As Stanford took hold of the box and lowered it, he saw a stick-thin fellow with spiky brown hair wearing a Black Sabbath T-Shirt and ripped jeans. 

"Thanks a ton man." He said gratefully.

"You're welcome." Ford returned. "So where do you need to drop this off?"

"Room 228," The spiky-haired student casually informed Ford. "it's just a couple doors down."

"Okay," Stanford responded as he walked backwards and allowed the boy to direct his steps. As they were nearing towards the dorm room, the sound of banjo twanging rang in their ears.

"Alright, we can plop this baby down here." The spiky-haired boy commanded, and the two proceeded to drop the heavy load onto the hall floor.

"Oh, my name's Rick by the way. Rick Sanchez." he introduced, offering a friendly hand.

"Stanford Pines." He reluctantly extended his hand, worried that the other student would see his extra fingers. But fortunately, Rick didn't even notice as he pleasantly shook Ford's hand.

"Aw shit, I forgot my key to the room." Rick muttered to himself. He then proceeded to bang on his bedroom door. "Yo Fiddlesticks! Can you let us in please? I left my keys and I still got some stuff to bring in the room."

Seconds later, the doorknob turned, revealing a thin young man with poofy brown hair and rimless glasses. He was wearing a green, button-up shirt and light brown pants.

"Well howdy!" The young man greeted in a friendly-sounding southern drawl. "Would ya like any help with that?" 

"We just need to fit this through the doorway." Rick answered.

"Sure thing," the southerner responded.

All three guys bent down and lifted the heavy box. It took a couple minutes for the three to squeeze the box through the doorway, but they managed to get it through the narrow frame and into the room without damaging the materials inside the cardboard box.

"Success!" Rick cheered. "This calls for a celebratory swig!" He took out a chrome flask from his coat pocket and merrily chugged his alcoholic beverage.

Stanford gazed at the dorm, which was decked out with posters of scientific figures, the solar system and the periodic table of elements. Tools, such as a microscope, telescope, test tubes, beakers and pipettes, were put in their proper places, and books on computer science, statistics, astrology, physics, and cosmology scattered the floor.

"You guys are into science as well?" Stanford inquired.

"Yep." The two roommates said in unison.

"Well I focus more on computer science." The southern student elaborated.

"And I'm really into astronomy and physics." Rick added.

"That's cool!" Ford responded. "I'm hoping to major in engineering."

"Nice!" Rick stated. "Well it's reassuring to know that we share some kind of common ground in terms of interests."

"Agreed." Stanford nodded as he turned to the poofy-haired boy. "Oh, and thank you for helping us out!" Stanford told the southerner.

"Don't mention it! My name's Fiddleford McGucket!"

"Stanford Pines. Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you as well." Fiddleford responded.

"Wait, so where were you playing some sort of stringed instrument not too long ago?" Ford asked.

"Yeah, I was actually playing around with my banjo." Fiddleford replied as he grabbed his banjo that was laying on top of his bed. "Would you like to hang out with us for a bit?" He offered a seat on the mattress.

"Sure." Stanford answered as took a seat beside Fiddleford.

Growing up, he never really had any friends besides Stanley as he was consistently teased for having six-fingers on each hand. And in all honesty, he didn't expect to make any friends in college and was hoping to spend more of his free time focusing on his studies. But after seeing how two people who were into the same things as he was were inviting him to stay and chat, he didn't want to waste such an opportunity.

"So, uh, how long have you been playing the banjo for?" Ford asked.

"Ever since I was 'bout four years old." Fiddleford smiled as he started plucking on his instrument. 

"That's really interesting! So you must be, like, the banjo equivalent to Jimi Hendrix." Ford suggested.

"Well, I've been perfectin' my musicianship for a long time now, but I don't consider myself too be _that_ great." Fiddleford offered as blood rushed to his cheeks.

"Dude, I didn't know you have six fingers!" Rick observed rather loudly.

 _"Oh no,"_ Stanford thought. _"So much for having friends in college......"_

"That's actually kinda neat." Fiddleford commented in a polite tone of voice.

"What?" Stanford questioned, not sure if he was hearing things. But Rick and Fiddleford were still gently smiling at him from where they were seated. But Stanford still needed proof. "W-wait a minute, so you two don't think that I'm some kind of freak." 

"Not at all." Fiddleford reassured. "I've actually done some reading on human abnormalities in the past and I've always been fascinated by the topic."

"Really?" Ford asked with interest. 

"Yeah." McGucket answered.

"I mean, would say that you are _freakin'_ awesome, but that's about the only time I'd use that word to describe you." Rick stated.

Ford smiled at their rather positive reaction to his genetic mutation.

"And sorry if I seemed rude," Rick apologized, "I just thought that you having extra fingers is really cool. I mean, you're essentially a super-human who is already ahead of the curve in evolutionary progression."

"It's alright." Stanford forgave Rick. "It's just that growing up, a lot of my peers made fun of me for having extra fingers. In fact, I never would have thought that anyone would think that my deformities were interesting, let alone cool."

"Well now there's two people who accept ya for who you are, extra fingers and all." Fiddleford told Stanford, who smiled gratefully at the southerner and Rick for their support.

So the three students spent the rest of the day in the dorm chatting away on trivial topics. By the time Stanford headed to his room, it was a few minutes past midnight. He immediately changed into his pajamas and set the alarm for 7:15 AM. He didn't even bother with reading a book before going to sleep as his conversations with Fiddleford and Rick tired him out.

"This is going to be an interesting semester..." He thought as he drifted off to sleep. 


End file.
